Code Of Honor
by Happiness Is An Allegory
Summary: Val is a hunter, who has already been in trouble with the company several times for keeping secrets and questioning the code of conduct. So how did he end up driving the getaway car for a critically injured shape-shifter with a price on her head?
1. It was a dark and stormy night

**Author's note: I can't believe this. After all the ranting I've done about Twilight (rather, how much it sucks) I'm writing a fanfic about it. Next I'll be doing something really crazy, like being nice to my brother.**

**Disclaimer: Let's all assume that the series and all recognized characters from the series do not belong to me.**

Sometimes, Jeppeson 'Val' Valentine _hated_ his job.

It didn't pay well. The hours were demanding. Val's life was constantly in danger, especially due to the illegal raising of his son, Beck. And his boss was probably the Prince of Hell in disguise. The company had gone to hell after Moses Campbell, the dhampir Senior Assassin who held the title for best in the league, had been forced into retirement. According to the other, more jaded Seniors said he'd sucked the life out of the company before he'd left and taken it with him.

Val didn't like to complain. Once you got your sigils tattooed at the end of training, you were the company's bitch. They beat it into your head from the time you were a young kid.

But that _had_ been almost twenty years ago and Moses had still been working back then. Half the kids in Val's training classes were determined to be 'just like Moses' when they grew up, including Val himself. Moses would've been a much better candidate for Head Hunter but unfortunately the job fell to a dhampir named Cecil Wilberforce, the abovementioned Prince of Hell in disguise. Now the company was probably harder to get out of than a communist country and Val was slowly but surely being run into the ground.

As for the illegal childrearing, Beckett Valentine didn't exist according the computers. Val had bribed two techies to erase his files shortly after Beck was born so he wouldn't be obligated to undergo the same training as his father did. Val was trying to find a more permanent nest for the two of them, especially now that his wife was dead.

To make a long story short, enough was enough. But there was no escaping the Hunter Code.

…

Tonight Val was chasing a cold case with an eight year old in the passenger seat. He supposed there were worse ways to spend a Saturday night. None came to mind_, _though. Val wasn't a complainer by nature, but even he had his limits. It was pouring hard enough that they nearly slipped off the road a couple times. Val loudly blamed the truck, but Beck just rolled his eyes.

"You can't drive, Dad," was all he said. Val tried saved his sarcasm for later; no sense in starting a fight before they got to their destination. Beck was one of those lovely types that couldn't understand sarcasm if their life depended on it.

"Where are we now?" Beck asked, turning back to stare out the window.

"Right in the middle of who-the-hell-knows-where, in a jungle." Tried and failed. Oh well. Boredom did bad things.

Beck pouted. "_Where_ is who-the-hell-knows-where?"

"Who the hell knows?" Beck gave his father an icy look that would've scared the Senior Assassins. Val checked the GPS. "The next town is Forks. We're in Washington."

"Oh. Are there vampires there?"

"Yeah. There's supposed to be, anyways." They were supposed to be vegan vampires, too. The Volturi had had an _issue_ with them about five years back. What a blinking bore. The other mutts got better cases in this- and they were in Negotiations!

"Dad, have you ever let a vampire live?" Beck asked.  
"No, and if I value my life I won't." Val stared at the kid. He knew the Hunter Code as well as anyone else.

"What about a werewolf?"

"I did that once, and it ended terribly."

Beck turned away.

"Worse. He might make me tell him where Moses disappeared to and then _Moses _would kill me." _That_ would be a fate worse than Cecil and Beck knew it. He laughed anyways.

Val rolled his eyes and went back to staring at the road.

A person, illuminated in the truck's headlights, stared back at him.

…

"Holy shit!"

The truck spun. Beck screamed and Val cursed. The figure on the road—it looked like a woman from here—didn't seem bothered. She looked like she was hurt, though, from the way she was clutching her arm. In a B-grade movie moment, the truck stopped an inch away from the girl. She blinked but didn't say anything.

_Damn, she's crazy!_ Val got out of the truck and was assaulted by the smell of wet dog. A werewolf, then? But that would be odd because she was a girl. It was more likely that she'd been attacked by one.

"What's your name?" he asked. The girl tensed, looking furtively over her shoulder. Val noticed that she was covered in blood but there were no open wounds. "Are you a werewolf?" he asked.

The girl's eyes betrayed her shock, but she wheezed a yes.

Val was tempted to dive for his gun, but he had to make sure she wasn't on the kill list. It was one of the few rules that hadn't changed: _do not take innocent lives. _

_"What's your name?"_ he repeated.

The girl gasped something that sounded like 'Leah' and collapsed.

**…**

Getting Leah in the truck was easier said than done. She was heavier than she looked. But that was because of her muscles. She looked like she could tear Val's head off if she wasn't hurt as badly as she was. Val had seen things like this before; the white streaks creeping up the girl's arm meant she had blood poisoning caused by vampire venom. It was common in Val's teenage years but he hadn't seen a case this bad since he was seventeen. What happened was that venom slowly crept through the wolf's extremities, burning as it went until it reached the heart. When that happened, the heart melted. It was truly disgusting. The longest any wolf had was two or three days, sometimes less if the venom count was high.

Beck gaped like a fish at their new guest. "What's the matter with her?"

"Blood poisoning. Hand me the list." No Leah Clearwater… so now what?

"We should take her to the hospital," Beck said, poking the white streaks creeping up Leah's arm. It looked as if she'd been poisoned earlier that day. Well, shit. He couldn't do anything that would really help her. Only something capable of sucking blood could do that. As much as Val didn't want to, this was an innocent life and he was obligated to save her. Especially after nearly mowing her over with his truck.

"They wouldn't believe us if we took her to a hospital. We'll take her to Moses' house."

Sometimes, Val _hated_ his job.

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	2. I swear, this isn't a bad idea

**Thank you to the reviewers! You're awesome.**

**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and she can have it. I'm just playing with the characters.**

It was an eight hour drive to Moses' home. It would've been four hours, but Val got lost a few times because the GPS had been pre-programmed and kept telling him the way back to Forks. Beck couldn't help because he had fallen asleep hours ago (right after insisting he wasn't tired, of course) and Leah had passed out. Val kept his flashlight on so he could see whether her chest was still moving or not. A few times he stopped and tried to wake her up and got a few choking noises for his trouble.

By the time they got to downtown Seattle, Val needed a pill and a bottle of wine. And maybe some reliable directions. Famous as he was in the supernatural world, it didn't seem like Moses did anything at _all_ in the human one. Val spent an hour in the same neighbourhood before an old lady with a broom came out of her apartment building and threatened to charge him with loitering. Before she beat him up, Val asked if she knew anyone named Moses and discovered that he was living in the same apartment building. It took a lot of ass-kissing to convince the woman to put down the broom and let him in, lugging the albatross known as Leah, with a very sleepy Beck trailing after them. The woman looked like she was going to call the police.

That was the final straw. If Moses wasn't home, then Val was going to leave the girl on someone's doorstep.

He _really _hoped Moses was home.

…

He was home. The dhampir was leaving what was presumably his apartment, looking like he was off to church. The same Moses; short, blonde, with a British accent that refused to fade, even after centuries in America. Val almost cried with happiness (but he'd never admit it) and resisted the urge to hug him. Moses, however, did not seem as happy to see Val.

"Jeppeson Valentine, what have you done now?" Moses unlocked the door and walked back inside. That was one of the great things about him. Moses was one of the few dhampirs with gifts—i.e., he could look through someone's memories at will. Plus, he'd been in the field for centuries before pulling his disappearing act, so he knew venom poisoning when he saw it.

All Val really needed to do was convince Moses that saving a werewolf, who might possibly try to kill them when she came to, was not a bad idea. Which was probably going to be easier said than done, considering that it sounded exactly like a _very_ bad idea and Moses thought Val was a moron anyways.

Hopefully, Leah could hold on for just a little bit longer.

Seeing as Moses didn't slam the door in Val's face, he let himself in. Moses had a large chesterfield in his living room and Val set Leah down on that. Beck curled up beside her and fell asleep again.

"Is she your girlfriend, Jeppeson?" Moses asked. Val was sorely tempted to suggest that the dhampir visit that fiery world opposite Heaven.

"I bring you a dying girl and all you say is _that_? When I die, you stay away from my funeral," he snapped.

Moses kept his cool. "Well, if that's not the case then why do you care?"

"The code of conduct. _The code of friggin' conduct_. I want to save this girl for completely selfish reasons, alright? You know just as well as I do that if we take an innocent life, or make no attempts to save one, we have to pay with our own. If I remember correctly it was _you_ that beat it into my head!"

The stupid little dhampir had the nerve to _smirk._ "Of course that's the reason. This couldn't possibly be because you're as soft-hearted as they come." Seeing Val's expression seemed to make him happier. "Alright, then. Take the girl to the bathroom and then go make me some tea with lots of sugar. Venom is _disgusting._"

…

And that was how Val found himself guarding the bathroom door from the inside for two _long _hours. He would've been sleeping, but Moses said he needed someone to refill the teacups and keep people out of the bathroom. The door was locked, but Moses was probably the same age as his biblical namesake, so he was allowed to be paranoid. Besides, the other option was to ignore the bitchy little dhampir and wake up with something very important missing. The other Senior Assassins had been calling the guy 'the Headless Horseman' for two hundred years.

Although Val had to admit that if someone did walk in, and they saw an unconscious girl covered in dried blood sprawled on the floor, Moses with his fangs in her neck, and Val (who suspected he looked like a washed out flower child with his overly long hair and bloodshot eyes) guarding the door, they were really going to get the wrong idea.

However, he wasn't about to give Moses the satisfaction of knowing that he agreed with him.

"This is horrible," Moses declared after spitting out a mouthful of venom.

"As horrible as your last relationship?" Val asked, laughing when Moses actually stopped to consider it. "No, not quite that bad. But have you ever tasted vampire venom?"

"No, but I'm planning to. Right after trimming my toenails with a lawnmower and skin-diving for piranhas."

Moses rolled his eyes. "I would've thought having a child of your own would've taught you to respect your elders."

"I'm twenty-eight. You're physically nineteen. Who's the elder?"

"I'm only physically nineteen. I'm still old enough to be your grandfather."

"Yeah, but _I_ can legally smoke and _I_ don't get carded for alcohol."

Leah groaned, which saved Val from becoming the Headless Horseman's new Ichabod Crane. However, Moses' eyes screamed murder and the next mouthful of venom was spat at Val, who promptly moved to the bathroom counter. Unfortunately, that put him near the mirror. Val realized that he didn't look like he had been doing drugs; he looked like he'd died from an overdose already. But with Moses now on a hair-trigger, it seemed like a bad idea to ask if he could sleep.

So he helped himself to the tea and just concentrated on keeping his eyes open.

…

"Jeppeson…Jeppeson…VAL!"

Val fell off the counter. It had to be serious. Moses never called him by his nickname in normal circumstances, and nothing would persuade him to do otherwise.

"I only slept for five minutes!" Val insisted. Moses rolled his eyes.

"Actually, you slept for half an hour. But look." He held up Leah's arm. All the white streaks were gone. Now that she wasn't in danger of dying, Val could focus on other things.

Like Leah's face. She was actually very attractive, with copper skin and eyelashes like feather dusters. Val hadn't thought of a girl as beautiful since-

_Don't think about that. What is wrong with you?_

"Will she wake up soon?" Val asked, trying to distract himself. Moses either didn't notice or he'd finally decided to be nice. "Yes, very soon, I would think. What are you planning to do with her then, Jeppeson?"

"I'll take her back to wherever she came from." As soon as he said that, Leah's eyes flew open and she screamed.

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	3. THIS might be a bad idea

**Author's Note: Chapter 4 won't be up for a few days. I'm going away for the weekend**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. I don't even **_**like**_** Twilight.**

Not many things scared Val. He'd taken down skinwalkers, demons, mutts, dhampirs, vampires, and once (on a mission involving a werewolf) a PETA supporter with a machine gun. However, he wasn't stupidly overconfident. Angry werewolves were dangerous. Angry _female_ werewolves… thanks to his mother, Val's catchphrase as a kid was, "Nobody tells Mom!" He could laugh about it now, but he'd left home with a strong respect for supernatural women.

And Leah… Leah scared him.

She was shrieking about someone named Jacob, and vampires, and the Loch Ness Monster for some reason. Moses was huddled in the bathtub, half fascinated and half worried. Val was just worried. If Leah phased, she'd crush the both of them. And then she might eat or change Beck.

But before Val could do anything to stop her, Leah had crossed the room, unlocked the door, and ran.

…

Val was fast, due to the combination of werewolf and vampire genes that made him a mutt, but Leah was a _real_ wolf. She'd actually phased before. _If_ he could catch her, it would be like trying to hang on to the Tasmanian devil—when it was _angry_.

He remembered all this before catching up to Leah and trying to pull her back to the bathroom. Naturally, Leah did not like this. Before Val knew what was happening, his nose felt broken and he was on his back looking up the ceiling.

Moses leapt over him. "Wait! Ms. Clearwater, wait!"

Leah actually stopped. Val wasn't fooled by this, though. Moses really should've figured out that he wasn't _supposed_ to know her name. She'd only told Val, and she probably didn't even remember doing that. This made the likelihood that she was going to attack a lot greater.

"How do you know my name?" She was shaking. Probably about to phase.

See? He called it.

"I know a lot about you, Leah Clearwater." Moses' little revelation didn't help at Leah's nerves all. If anything, it made her more agitated.

"Moses," Val groaned, his nose burning with pain. "Don't scare the poor girl. She's just been detoxed."

"I've been—_what_?"

Moses calmly led Leah over to a chair. "Go attend to your nose, Jeppeson. I'll explain everything to her." It meant _get lost _in the Language of Moses_._

"What about Beck?" Val asked. The boy was awake now. He looked way too fascinated with the whole situation.

"He can stay here, as well. I don't imagine _you've_ told him anything about the company, have you?"

Val was too tired and sore to explain that Beck knew a lot about the company, because Val always had nowhere to leave him when he was on missions. Moses wouldn't believe him anyways. So he took his Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card, managed to stand up somehow, and went back to the bathroom.

…

Even when standing under the running water in the shower, Val could still hear every word of the conversation.

Moses was saying, "Val found you on his way to investigate the vampires of Forks, Washington. You were poisoned very badly." For once, Val was thankful that Moses could go picking through his memories whenever he wanted to; it saved a lot of explanation on Val's part.

"I knew about the poison," Leah muttered.

"I assumed you did. Will you please tell me how it happened?" That was a weird question for someone with Moses' particular gift… unless he was just asking because he knew Val was eavesdropping.

"My alpha imprinted on the daughter of the family of vampires in Forks. She's five, but she looks like she's fifteen. I told her some of her family history and she got upset and screamed, and everybody thought I hurt her…"

Hurting an imprintee lead to bloodshed. Val knew, for he'd seen it, that a wolf would attack another wolf until they were nearly dead, if they so much as _scratched_ an imprintee.

"The girl's parents got involved," Leah continued. Val could picture Moses nodding and leaning forward. He always did this—that is, get really, _really_ curious about rather bizarre and often uncomfortable situations. Val found it annoying, but he found Moses annoying in general.

"And that's how you came to be covered in blood and poisoned with venom," Moses stated, as if it weren't already obvious. Val resisted the urge to introduce his face to the wall because his nose _was_ broken.

But only because of that.

"Yes. But what _I _want to know is how _you_ seem to know who I am," Leah said. Val tensed. He got an ache beneath the sigils tattooed on his stomach every time someone found out about Moses' little 'gift'. Val himself had been terribly embarrassed and nothing more, but there was an old legend that when Cecil found out about it (some seven hundred years ago), he had tried to put Moses to death. And Val knew for a fact that the Volturi wanted Moses' head because of that.

"I have the ability to read memories. If the need arises, I can know who you are, where you've been, and what makes your world turn in the blink of an eye," Moses said. _And who you've kissed, when you've cried, and most of your private moments,_ Val added silently and bitterly. Leah wasn't speaking which meant she was most likely stunned.

"Don't worry, dear," Moses assured. "I only looked through the ones from yesterday, so I'd know you weren't lying."

Val scoffed. In the living room, Beck was saying, "How can you prove you were looking through her memories?"

Oh, dear. Another child lost to an ancient mistake. Moses would only forgive Beck after three years of muttering, "Damned Valentines always doubting me," quietly enough that people in other countries probably couldn't hear him.

"Well, let's ask Leah. Did I get it right, dear?"

Val pictured what Leah's face must've looked like by now, and made the mistake of snorting with laughter. Blood ran down his chin. He tried to wipe it off carefully, but Leah began yelling in the next room and Val jumped. More blood ran down his chin.

_Damn you, Moses! You took away my ability to facepalm!_

Val carefully stepped over the edge of the bathtub. The floor was slippery with water and a few silver traces of venom. Leah's tone told him that Moses would need help soon, whether he thought so or not. In the meantime, Val busied himself with the first aid kit. His nose didn't seem to be broken but it was badly bruised and still oozing a little bit.

"—hell do you think you are?" Leah snarled. Val swallowed a painkiller and put a bandage on his nose.

"I am Moses Campbell the First, the dhampir."

"Is that all?"

Oh. _No._ Val went straight to autopilot, getting dressed as fast as his sore nose would allow, and rummaging through the drawers and medicine cabinet for anything that could be used for a weapon of self-defense.

"I _was_ a hunter. I kill supernatural menaces for a living."_ And then you retired. Tell her you retired!_

Never mind. The hairbrush would have to do. Val put his hand on the doorknob and waited. _One wrong move, Leah._

"What do you mean by supernatural menaces?" she asked.

"Any vampire, werewolf, dhampir, demon, shape-shifter, or mutt that endangers humankind," Moses said. Val tensed. Leah was a werewolf, or shape-shifter at the very least. That dog smell clung to her.

"What's a mutt?"

"It's what Jeppeson is. He's the one who found you last night and whose nose you hurt. A mutt is a person with a combination of human, vampire, and werewolf genes. Some phase, but most just freeze. They're ideal hunters since they don't fit in anywhere else."

_Well, when you put it that way…_ but he was right. Val had been questioned on which species he identified as more than once, and then corrected for saying whatever he answered with. Mutt was a common term, but he'd also heard half-breed and 'fanged wolf' before, but the latter could only be applied to the few mutts who actually phased.

And since it didn't _sound_ like Moses was in any danger, Val opened the door and went into the living room.

…

Moses was telling Leah about his Headless Horseman days. She looked rather sick and Beck looked rather fascinated. Val was tempted to cover the boy's ears. He didn't know what he could do for Leah, except-

"Do you want a ride? You know, back to your home?" he asked. Leah winced when he said 'home.'

"Are you Jeppeson?"

"Please, no one calls me that except Moses and my mother. It's _Val._"

"Alright, Val. No, I do not want to go home. In fact, I'll go anywhere else _except_ Forks, if you're really willing to drive me."

"Are you at risk of death by going home?" Moses asked. Leah nodded.

"Very. Those people have no sense of familial loyalty. I didn't even hurt the stupid kid, but they attacked me and left me for dead. So, Val, does your offer for a ride still stand?"

Looking back, Val marvelled at how much trouble—actually, make that flat out physical pain—if he'd just shook his head and left the girl and Moses and carried on with his life.

As it was: "Where exactly did you want to go?" he asked.

"There has to be _somewhere_ where there are no werewolves, where they don't like to go," Leah seemed to be talking mostly to herself.

"There is," Moses chirped. "But only because it's overrun with vampires. And anyways, I know a perfect place for you _and_ Val_ and _Beck to go."

This had to be serious. He used Val and Beck instead of Jeppson and Beckett.

"Where is it?"

"I cannot tell you, not here. I'll go along and give you directions."

Val had a bad feeling that this was going to be more than just a relocation trip for Moses. He had a feeling that things were going to change in ways he couldn't even imagine.

But why argue with the Headless Horseman?

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	4. Rules and revelations

**This is later than I wanted it to be. Sorry. **

**But on a happier note, I can't believe how many people like this story! That's so cool! :)**

**Warning: this chapter is from Leah's point of view.**

**Disclaimer: do I really have to keep saying this? Twilight IS. NOT. MINE! Val, Beck, and Moses are, but they're OCs.**

Leah Clearwater couldn't decide if she was an idiot or a genius for going along with this idea. She didn't know either of the two men (who, by the way, said they hunted 'supernatural menaces') but _anything, _even a road trip with total strangers, had to be better than going back to La Push. Right?

And besides, they couldn't be _too_ bad; they hadn't just let her die.

Val, the taller of the two men, had retreated to one of the bedrooms to sleep. He reminded her of the boys in her pack before they phased, albeit with lighter skin, bluer eyes, and a kinder demeanour. He had long black hair, which he tied back, and he was taller than average but that was where the similarities ended. Val was taller than Leah and obviously strong— he'd managed to get her up to the apartment—but if he so thin that if he went up against Jacob or Sam, Val probably wouldn't live very long. He also looked older, or at least more mature, than the wolves, although he couldn't have been out of his twenties yet- certainly not much older than Leah herself.

Leah decided she could probably trust Val. Probably.

Moses on the other hand… she wasn't sure. It didn't take a genius to know that a dhampir was something similar to a vampire but that wasn't the issue. Ever since it was officially decided that they'd travel together, Moses had been running around the apartment like a maniac since it was decided that he'd go with them on this mystery journey. This in itself wouldn't have been too bad, but he was also saying things like, "I have propane but _where_ is my flamethrower?" and, "Let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea!" and other nonsensical things.

Moses even _looked _crazy: he had blonde hair that seemed to be sticking straight up off his head, wide green eyes that didn't focus on anything for more than three seconds, and an extreme case of the fidgets. Leah made a mental note to ask if insanity was common in dhampirs.

…

The kid who had been sitting on the couch was staring at her. He looked like Val, with shorter hair and darker eyes, so Leah assumed they were related.

"Why did your alpha imprinted on a kid? That's really disgusting," the boy said solemnly. Leah smiled sardonically. This kid was smarter than most of the adults she knew. The Cullens thought it was _adorable_ that Jacob would marry Renesmee one day. Then again, they'd probably say the same thing if Jacob imprinted on Charlie Sheen. And at least Charlie Sheen was funny, sometimes.

"You want to know what's even more disgusting?" she asked.

"What?"

"He _wanted_ to imprint on the kid's mother. They were even an item for awhile."

The kid's mouth fell open. "And the girl's mother didn't kill him when she found out?"

"She tried to, but eventually she accepted it. I think she's happy about it now— it makes her feel less guilty about choosing Edward over him. Edward's her husband by the way."

The kid nodded. "So, was it just your alpha and Edward who attacked you or were there more members of your pack involved?"

"It was Edward, the kid's mother Bella, and my alpha Jacob. You know, you catch on quick for a kid."

"Hey, I'm eight!" Somehow, that little remark made Leah's story worse; the kid was only three years older than Renesmee. Leah had almost forgotten what a real child was supposed to look like. "My name is Beck Valentine, by the way. I'm Val's son."

Valentine. She'd been wondering how people got _Val _out of _Jeppeson_.

Beck moved from the couch to Leah's feet. "So, do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"One brother. He's in college right now."

"Is he a wolf, too?"

"Yeah." As if he'd been eavesdropping, Moses burst into the room howling, "NOOOOOO!" which sent Beck flying into the air.

"Yes, he is a wolf," Leah said. Moses waved his hand as if dismissing her.

"Not that. It's Val. He has a GPS in his truck!"

"So?"

"So, he'll be able to figure out where we're going without me telling him. And then I'll have to stay home."

…

Before Leah could explain that Val couldn't do anything without a map or the slightest idea of where he needed to use that map to travel to, she was outside helping Moses dismantle the GPS. Val had an extremely strange truck. It looked like an old clunker on the outside, but the interior was high class. Val had just about every piece of modern technology you could have in an automobile.

Leah suspected that Moses didn't know much about modern technology because he didn't seem to realize the GPS could just be unplugged. He smashed it to bits.

"What's Val going to do when he finds out you trashed it?" Leah asked, imagining a bloody fight.

Moses rolled his eyes. "Jeppeson will say a very colourful string of curses, but I'll be completely safe. We have too much history for him to kill me."

"History?"

"I got him through the Assassins Guild without too much physical harm, which in turn got him tattooed. In the company, you're a fly on the wall until you've got your sigils. It's like Val and I are in one of those debt-you-can't-pay things."

Leah knew that feeling all too well. She didn't owe the Cullens anything— if anything, they owed _her_ for helping hold off Sam before Renesmee was born— but that didn't stop them from acting like she did. She didn't want to talk about that. Moses probably knew anyways, if he was lying about only looking through her memories from last night like she suspected he was.

"What are sigils?" she asked instead. Moses rolled up his sleeve. The whole length of his arm was covered in strange tattoos.

"Ancient spells. Thousands of years ago, shamans translated the code of conduct. By tattooing them on the hunters, they were supposed to sink in and make us obey."

"Did they?"

"No!" Moses seemed very adamant about this. "Ask anyone! Val, his mother, Beck— the Valentines are nice enough bunch but they can't obey the _No Secrets _rule to save their lives."

"What are all the rules?" Leah asked.

Moses pointed to the sigils as he read them. "If you have children, they belong to the company."

"If an innocent life can be saved and is not, yours will be taken from you." Leah was suddenly relieved. This was a good sign they were not planning to kill her.

"Keep no secrets." Moses looked sad for a moment. "That one will be the death of generations of Valentines."

"Obey your superiors."

"Take no prisoners."

"You can never run away."

"It sounds like my pack," Leah commented. Moses sighed and took on an air of nostalgia that suggested he was about to start ranting about the Good Ol' Days, just like any old timer.

"It never used to be that way. When I was just starting out, the whole company was different. We had allies in a select few of the wolf packs, moles in the vampire covens, and even a couple deals with the devil. That last one was really stupid, by the way; demonic possession is as close to hell as I ever want to be again. But anyways, we had allies and we had a different code and we weren't tattooed." Moses stared at his arm in disgust. "Not until old _Cecil Wilberforce_ started getting all those stupid ideas and took over the whole business."

"Cecil Wilberforce?" Leah couldn't help but laugh. "How does he strike fear into the hearts of vampires with a name like that?"

"It's not his name that strikes the fear. It's the fact that he likes to cut them into pieces with a scythe."

Leah stopped laughing. "So if he does that, why does anyone take him seriously?"

"It's like you and your alpha," Moses said. "Everybody thought he was so great, that by the time he revealed his true nature it was too late. _And_ Cecil is really good at making sure everyone who knows anything is liquidated. He'll do it himself if he has to."

"He _does_ sound like my alpha. By now, Jacob has probably told everyone that I just ran away like I was planning to. Bella will shield him so nobody suspects." Leah hadn't even met him but she began to hate Cecil. "I don't suppose Cecil has an imprint."

"No, he's a dhampir. We don't do that. He used to be in a relationship, though. Nobody knows what happened to his significant other, not even Cecil." Moses smiled at this. Leah realized that _he_ probably knew.

"So, Cecil's in charge of the hunters?"

"Yes, he's the Head Hunter. But he won't be for long if any of the new trainees have any sense in their heads at all."

Leah wondered if the new wolves back home would have any sense in _their_ heads now that Jacob was so blindly, ridiculously devoted to a five year old. She could make him do anything. It was terrifying.

"Power should not be given to anyone who is only _mentally _an adult," Moses said.

Then and there, Leah decided that a road trip with Val and Moses, even if they were hunters and/or completely insane, was much, _much_ better than the alternative.

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	5. Friendship despite awkwardness

**Argh! Classes, work, and writers block, thou shalt be the death of me (sorry, we're starting our Shakespeare unit)**

**Back to Val's POV in this one. **

**Disclaimer: If Twilight were mine, I'd disclaim it anyways. I also don't own Ripley's Believe It or Not. I just own the OCs and I'm almost certain they aren't happy about it. **

Val wasn't a hateful person, but there were some things he couldn't stand. Alcohol came to mind. His job. World hunger. Dictators disguised as bosses. Freeloaders. Vampires who poisoned innocent girls.

And, as of late, Moses. Who was turning out to be at least two out of the six.

It seemed the dhampir wasn't just planning on going along to give directions. The truck's bed had at least seven boxes in it. Moses was using Val for a taxi.

Traveling. With dhampirs it was a _curse._ And he'd only had Moses in his truck for an hour. There were still six hours and fifty three minutes before they'd stop for the night.

As if that weren't enough, Moses had destroyed Val's GPS. There was no getting rid of him. That GPS was the only thing protecting Val from being forced to have a partner who actually had a sense of direction. Moses had also taken Leah with, and now she was dressed in clothes that weren't blood spattered. Thank God, Val had more than one credit card. He made a mental note to hide the others in a better place. Because, unfortunately, getting rid of Moses was not an option. The man was like a bad movie; you wanted to burn it but it was useful for comedic purposes and it _did_ have a few glimmers of potential.

Example: if Leah's pack even thought that there was the _slightest_ chance she was alive, Val would need the Headless Horseman (and possibly the Headless Horseman's flamethrower) in ways that were probably pathetic.

"This is fortunate. I won't have to take a taxi to Florida," Moses said, his whimpering tone and shuddering suggesting that this was anything but fortunate. He was sitting in the passenger seat with his knees pulled to his chest. Like a lot of older men, Moses didn't trust technology and now he was surrounded by an iphone, a tablet, and was remained of a GPS. To Moses, this must've been _special _hell.

And what was that about Florida? _My lord, this man has it out for me._ The company's HQ was in Jacksonville, Val's mother and her wolf pack were probably somewhere around Tallahassee, and Val's father and wife had both died in Fort Lauderdale.

"I thought you said it was—and I quote—'a perfect place'," Val sneered. Moses looked amiable… well as amiable as one could look when one seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack.

"It is. At least Orlando is."

Screw the fact that he was driving. _Head meet steering wheel. I'm sure you two will be great together_. By this point, Val was beyond caring about his nose. When he straightened up, he noticed Leah's face in the rear view mirror. She was smiling. He hated to ruin her good mood—after last night she certainly deserved to have one—but seeing her reminded him of something.

"So, Leah, are you sure I'm not going to turn on the TV in a couple days and find you on AMBER Alerts?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "No, you can be sure that won't happen. I've been trying to get out of that town since I was twenty."

"Why didn't you?"

"I had a bucket list. Things to do, people to tell off, that sort of thing. I figured it wouldn't mater since I would never come back."

"Don't you have a family? They should be worried sick about you," Moses said. Val knew Moses couldn't bear thinking about someone with no family. It was a wonder he didn't have ten children of his own.

"My brother is in college. My dad is dead. And my mom got remarried to the father of this stupid girl. Can you believe she actually _wanted_ to be a vampire? It totally drove a wrecking ball through everyone's lives."

Val heard Moses hiss. He had nearly been turned into a full-fledged vampire before. Val himself didn't have to worry because mutts weren't deemed worthy enough to be changed. But dhampirs… nobody knew what happened. All the dhampirs were too fast to catch.

"I've met a few," Val answered. "The company has had some serious problems with the lovers of incubi."

"What are incubi?"

"The sex fiends of the vampire world. They especially like young girls, fifteen to seventeen."

Two seconds passed. And then, "I hate vampires. I really, _really_ hate vampires."

Val was beginning to like Leah.

…

He had to hand it to the incubi. They may have been evil and disgusting, but they provided almost two hours of conversation on vampires and why they should be eliminated. In that time, Val learned that Leah's stepsister, Bella, was permanently eighteen, she'd met her husband who was now a hundred and twelve ("They're just children," said Moses, the nine hundred year old dhampir; Val managed to stifle a smile) and he'd wanted to drink her blood despite living in a vegetarian coven. Val wasn't sure how things managed to get from 'I want to kill you so badly' to 'Darling will you marry me?' in the space of a year or two but it wasn't his job to understand vampires. Bella had a dhampir child, whom one of her former love interests imprinted on the day it was born. It wasn't unusual for a mate to be a few years younger then the wolf. Val's father had been two years younger than Val's mother. But never in all his twenty years as the company's bitch had Val heard of a couple being _seventeen years apart._ It was almost worse than a Ripley's Believe It or Not marriage he'd read about, where a seventeen year old _human_ girl married a_ human_ man who was a hundred and twelve. What made it worse was how fast a dhampir aged. If she was five now, she could be married in two years. There'd be more mutts in the world in at least three years. Hell, it would take a miracle for the company not to sniff her out.

He almost felt sorry for the kid.

"What issue did the Volturi have with them?" Val asked. Leah might know. She seemed pretty involved with these beasts.

"They thought Renesmee was an immortal child."

Beck interrupted. "What's a renesmee?"

Leah laughed and tousled his hair. "The unfortunate child of the Cullens. I'm glad I won' know what she'll turn out to be like."

"How did these Cullens manage to survive the Volturi? I've only known two people who have ever done that," Moses said.

"They sent out SOS signals to all their friends. I can only imagine what would happen if the whole army was around yesterday."

Val couldn't help but wonder if the Cullens would send out SOS signals again since Leah was not dead.

"Aha! _Now_ I know why the death toll in Seattle was so high five years ago. Honestly. If these Cullens are really vegetarians you'd think they'd insist that their guests not feed off of humans while staying in their house!" Moses was a bit of a vegetarian himself. He only drank blood once a month and it had to be animal or from a blood bank. Val knew this because of the year he'd spent in London with the man. It was a long, horrific memory of tea, blood, and headless vampires.

"They didn't want them hunting in Forks. I guess they were okay with it as long as it wasn't close by," Leah replied. Moses turned a deep scarlet and seemed to inflate.

"CREATURES LIKE THAT SHOULD NOT EXIST!" he screamed.

"Moses, calm down. You're scaring Beck." Beck actually seemed rather fascinated, but Moses didn't need to know that. "And anyways, that's why we do what we do, right?"

Moses deflated. "Yes, you're quite right, Jeppeson. Forgive an old man of his prejudices, Leah."

Leah was laughing. Well at least _she_ was happy. Maybe he'd let Moses sit next to her for the rest of the trip.

"I wonder, though…" Moses took a sip of his tea. "When they don't find your body, they might track you."

_Way to kill the mood, Moses._

"We'll be far enough away," Val replied. "Besides, there are plenty of werewolves and shifters across the states. They'll have to be super trackers if they really want her dead."

And the mood was now deceased. This was going to be a long drive.

**...**

"Have you ever killed a vampire before?" Beck asked Leah half an hour later.

"Yeah, once, in a fight against a newborn army. Some she-vamp wanted revenge on Edward and Bella."

"So she a created newborn army? My word, these Cullens of yours seem to _invite_ trouble!" Moses exclaimed. Val silently agreed. No wonder Leah didn't want to go back; she had helped her stepsister and her vampire family and in return they tried to kill her. Val had had his share of sorrow in life, but it seemed a bowl of cherries compared to being ignored and abused and left for dead.

"Well… Cecil's probably going to call me in a few hours. If you want, I can get them on the kill list," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. If they're a real danger to humanity or the peace of the supernatural world, I can tell Cecil. They'd have a week at the most."

Leah was quiet for a moment. "No, that's okay. Two wrongs don't make a right and all that." She smiled a little. "They've already tried to kill me. I don't need them haunting my dreams at night."

Val knew then that Leah was tough. Tougher than he was, anyways.

He was almost _definitely _going to like her.

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	6. The vampires have got to go

**This chapter may be a little rushed, because it was finished on my Get-Shit-Done day.**

**Warning: Someone said they wanted the Cullens to get trounced. They aren't the Cullens, but vampires do die in this chapter. If you're uncomfortable with that, I won't make you stay to read.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, and I'm pretty damn happy about that.**

* * *

As a frequent guest of the cheapest motels in America, Val knew all their shortcomings. Thin walls, the ice machine, and the décor were just a few. There were even more when you had roommates. Naturally, because Beck was the only one small enough to sleep comfortably on the couch and Leah was a girl, Val and Moses had to share a bed with each other, and Moses wasn't pleased with this. Not because he really didn't want to share with Leah; it was just that he really didn't want to share with _Val_. The feeling was mutual, and really mutual, but Moses told Val to keep his hands to himself just the same. The dhampir didn't realize how lucky he was that most of the weapons were out in the truck.

When dhampires were your roommates, motels really sucked.

But unlike Val's truck, motels had air conditioning and, if you got lucky, they didn't have Wi-Fi. Cecil wouldn't be able to Skype. He hadn't even called yet. Maybe the techies had taken pity on Val.

Or maybe Cecil had executed someone and was too tied up in that.

These were just a few of the thoughts bouncing around Val's head at four in the morning. He'd slept well from about ten thirty to three, and then woken up when his chest seemed to be burning. Moses had, while asleep, moved so that he was almost lying on top of Val. It was awkward and sort of painful. Why did all half vampires have such hot skin when full fledged vampires were freezing cold? It was like God had created them, along with mutts, just to defy his own logic. Or maybe God hadn't created them. Maybe the Devil had. It would make more sense.

'_Keep your hands to yourself,' indeed, _Val seethed before trying to doze off again. The next time he woke up it was because Moses yelled out loud (still asleep) and nearly sent him flying out of bed. After that things were quiet enough but Val couldn't sleep. It was some sort of law his body invented and hadn't told him about—if he woke up more than twice, he was going to stay awake.

Being awake gave him time to go over things. Such as _why the hell had he agreed to this?_ Maybe it was one of a grief-makes-people-do-crazy-and-stupid-things episode that the bereavement counsellor had told him to expect. His father and wife had both been murdered, the latter happening only two years ago while he was in the _house, _and Val still had nightmares about it. The trouble was he wasn't depressed all the time anymore. There were still times when he had to sit down and close his eyes because of the flashbacks, and he had nightmares, but he no longer needed counselling.

He hated to admit it, but he actually _wanted_ to do this. After her story, Val couldn't help but want to see Leah somewhere where she'd be safe. Even though he suspected Moses was right, and these Cullens would come after them, that just gave him all the more reason to help her find a place where she'd never have to see them again.

Stupid honour system. It made Val feel good to help people, but right now all he wanted to feel was sleepy. But that was, apparently, too much to ask.

So he opted for the next best thing; a little early-morning hunting trip. Val managed to separate himself from Moses, put on his boots, take the room key, and get his gun and ammunition from his suitcase.

"Where are you going?" Leah asked, nearly scaring Val into loading the gun.

"Hunting vampires. You want to come?" Even in the dark, he could see that she was nodding enthusiastically.

* * *

Like all new hunters, Leah was excited. Unlike a lot of the new hunters, she wasn't trying to run off on her own, with big dreams of becoming the youngest Senior Assassin in history or something. Val didn't doubt that she could take care of herself, but he didn't want to spend all night looking for her and worrying that she'd had another bad experience with venom.

"How many vampires have you killed?" Leah whispered as they cut through a dark alley.

"Enough to make me cautious," Val answered. "Although, just one good fight with one will do that."

"No offense, but you aren't really the type I'd picture hunting vampires."

"And you really, _really_ aren't the type I'd picture as somebody the people back in Forks would dislike." That came out before he could stop it.

"Thank you…"

They continued in silence until things got too uncomfortable. "I didn't know there were actual creatures called mutts. I thought the word was just a slur for a wolf," Leah said.

"It is. It's kind of a slur for my kind, too, but it's easier to say than 'dhampir-werewolf crossbreed', which is the technical term. You really haven't heard of us?"

"No. Everything I know comes from the Elders and the vampire coven."

Again with the vampire coven. Maybe they really _should _have been on the kill list, along with Leah's alpha. Perhaps the alpha _especially, _because what Val had heard reminded him of Cecil, who often jumped to conclusions and made other people pay the price for it. When Val was a teenager, he'd been forced to explain away more than one bruise.

"Was that the first time your alpha did something like that to you?"

"Yeah…" Leah didn't speak again. Nobody liked talking about abuse. Val knew Moses had suffered from Cecil's wrath a more than anyone else, but he always shut people down when the subject was brought up.

"We won't talk about him anymore," Val said, more to the memory of Cecil than to Leah. But Leah seemed grateful too.

"So how _does_ a guy like you kill a vampire?" she asked. Val was about to explain, but a scream from further down the alley distracted him.

"Watch and learn."

* * *

As much as Val detested all the traveling, lack of sleep, and Cecil being Cecil that came with the job, there was something immensely satisfying about sneaking up behind a pair of vampires (a mated pair, one male, one female) with a loaded Strayer-Voigt Infinity, especially when said vampires were standing with a look of hunger over a young girl, who was so drunk she probably didn't know what was going on. A bullet wouldn't wound, much less kill, a vampire but it would shatter their sensitive ear drums.

The girl looked as if she'd given up any thought of rescue. Val gnashed his teeth and fought the flashbacks. _That same look, from another time, another place, another _girl_, and I couldn't do anything. _Just like that, he was on autopilot.

_Bang!_

The male vampire screamed and clutched at his ears. Val's stomach was starting to flutter because he knew what he wanted to do and he had stage fright. Vampires were made of marble. Mutts were made of flesh and blood. That didn't mean they broke easily, but pain was always pain.

Sometimes, though, pain didn't matter. Moses was right; things like that should not exist. Thank God the _Innocent Life_ rule could be revoked if a vampire was a human blood drinker. The creature's demise could be quick because Val had a lighter (this would've been pretty pointless if he didn't) but something about this particular vampire made Val angry. He wanted to _fight._

_I could do it, _he thought. _Right hook. Slam my fist in his eye. After all, he's pissed me off. Isn't that what we're supposed to do, Cecil? Cullens? Hurt something, hurt someone. The moment our fists make contact, we feel better, right, guys? Let it out. Punish them so they won't do it again. Right? Isn't that the way?_

If Val started a fight, he was goint to _have_ to win. Otherwise, the vampire would beat on him until there was nothing left to beat on. Val's fingers curled into a fist.

_Their eyes are the weak spots._ First advice the Seniors gave you. Val jumped out of the shadows and punched the vampire in the eye. The human girl ran down the alley as fast as her legs could carry her.

Hitting the vampire was satisfying. A roller-coaster rush. Even better was the look of surprise on the vamp's face: his mouth rounded into an O for a second before tightening into an uncompromising line. _He thought he could get away with it, _Val thought, adrenaline making him giddy. _He never thought someone might stop him._

_God help me._

The vampire didn't punch Val. He slapped him. Val wondered for a moment if his head would go in a complete circle, Linda Blair style. It didn't, though, and nothing was broken. Mutts weren't _that_ weak. Another slap, though, and he'd have a large fracture and a helluva case of whiplash. Val could hear a flurry of curses and thuds behind him; Leah must've attacked the other one.

The second blow was coming, and Val ducked. The vampire's fist hit the building. He swore and Val saw his advantage. It was like being back in training with Moses, learning hand to hand combat. _Get his arm behind his back, Jeppeson, that's the way. Hit him in one eye, then the other, and keep doing that. He's groaning but don't let that stop you. Contact and contact and contact._

Moses would be pissed about missing this. Val was almost pissed that Moses was missing this; Leah had made quick work of the other vampire, and they needed to get rid of it before it pieced itself back together

"Leah! Come take a shot!"

"Leah?" the vampire gasped. "Leah Clearwater?"

"_Val,_" Leah groaned. "Did you _have_ to say that?"

"Sorry. Come here, take a swing at him. You'll feel better." Before Leah could do anything, though, the vampire spun and grabbed Val in a vicelike headlock.

"Come quietly and I won't kill him," he snarled. Val, even when choking, rolled his eyes.

"You… get that… from James Bond?" He wheezed. "Seriously…you think I'm…gonna die that…easily?"

"You're a _human_," the vampire sneered, apparently forgetting that a human could not have punched him that many times without breaking their hand. Val was annoyed that he couldn't correct the vampire, but he'd used up too much air.

The vampire turned on Leah. "What did you do to Renesmee?"

"Nothing!" Leah snarled. "It's just those stupid _Cullens_ overreacting!"

"I've known Jasper since he was in Maria's coven, and he wouldn't lie to _me._ They told me you did something to Renesmee, you _dog_. I can't understand why vampires would trust you freaks of nature. A group of _mutts_."

_Mutts? MUTTS!? _Leah looked almost as mad as Val felt. She screamed and there was a loud _screeeeech, _and suddenly Leah had stolen the Headless Horseman's calling card. The vampire's grip loosened on Val, who scrambled for his lighter. Leah looked both proud and nauseous. She was breathing in huge gulps and sweating buckets.

"You… you must think I'm crazy…" she whispered.

"Why, because you killed a vampire? I kill vampires for a living. I think we passed crazy a long time ago. Are you hurt?"

"Probably not as badly as _you_ are," she replied, smiling ruefully. Val's hands and cheek would be black and blue in a few hours, and they stung, but that was life. At least those vampires had it much worse.

* * *

Val was certain that the hand of God was involved in the situation somehow. Nobody had come running to the alley. Leah and Val placed the shredded vampires in a trash can and lit them on fire. They had a long walk back to the motel.

"I think their names were Peter and Charlotte," Leah said. "I remember them from the time the Volturi came."

"This is bad. It means the Cullens are sending people after you. I hope you can do a repeat of that stunt you pulled back there with his head, or we're all up the creek without a paddle." Val would take Cecil, violent punishments and all, over an angry vampire any day. Thank God for Moses' flamethrower, but Leah had mentioned an _army _back in the truck. Vampire armies usually numbered forty or fifty, but if these ones had faced off against the Volturi and _won_, there had to be more than that. A flamethrower, a dhampir, a werewolf, and a mutt could only go so far against a vampire army. Plus there was Beck to worry about. If anything happened to _him,_ Val wasn't sure what he'd do.

"Come on. Let's go back to the motel."

They ran all the way there. It was starting to get lighter out, and Val didn't want anyone stopping him to ask about his face. Luckily their room was on the first floor, and not very far from the lobby. As expected, Val was finally ready to fall asleep, even if he had to share a bed with Moses. Hell, he would've shared a bed with a serial killer by this point, if it meant he could lie down and close his eyes. Val put the pillow over his face and sighed.

_Almost…asleep…_

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

Of. _Course._

"Good morning," Moses chirped, pulling the pillow off Val's head. Val took no little satisfaction at the look on the dhampir's face when the bruises came into view. He knew Moses was looking through his memories.

"No…"

"Yes," Val replied. "We are now _officially_ screwed."

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